Fran O'Brien Dedication Highlights Men's Basketball Alumni Day

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Legendary MIT head coach Fran O'Brien will be honored during halftime of the Engineers' final regular-season home game against Clark University on Saturday, Feb. 17. O'Brien, who already was a member of the Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame, was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame this fall.

February 17 will be a busy day for the men's basketball program, which will be celebrating Senior Day as well as hosting the alumni game at 10 a.m. in Rockwell Cage. The varsity game is scheduled to tip-off at 2:00 p.m., with the Senior Day announcements occurring before the starting lineups. At halftime, an inspiring group of MIT greats including former head coaches, Ted Heuchling and Leo Osgood, and former MIT President Dr. Paul Gray, will join O'Brien at mid-court for a brief dedication. Following the game, there will be a reception open to the MIT community in the Zesiger Center lobby.

O'Brien was one of the most beloved coaches in MIT lore. Recording 99 wins between 1972 and 1986, O'Brien was named New England Division III Coach of the Year following the 1979-80 campaign. Revered by the basketball community, O'Brien was also at the head of the coaching class in baseball and retired as the diamond program's all-time winningest coach. In 1993, he was tabbed New England Division III Coach of the Year, becoming one of only two coaches in the history of MIT athletics to earn region coach of the year honors in two different sports.

O'Brien has also been inducted into the Town of Randolph Hall of Fame and Stonehill College Hall of Fame. His tenure at the Institute extended from 1969-1996.